Bolster



E. D. SMITH March 6, 1956 BOLSTER Filed April 15, 1953 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent BOLSTER Earl D. Smith, Indianapolis, Ind.Application April-15, 1953",SerialNo. 348,980

2 Claims. (Cl. -340) This invention relates to a bolster of a characterto provide a head or back rest for use in lounging upon a bed, couch orthe like.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide such a bolster of fibre orcorrugated board so constructed that it may be built up from a suitablycut blank or blanks. Thus, the bolster may be shipped or stored in theknockdown, and conveniently and economically assembled into a sturdy butlight structure of the desired configuration. This is of an advantageboth in respect to providing a light, rigid and economical structure,and particularly from a standpoint of shipping and storing, wherein abolster of this character is ordinarily quite bulky when built up.

This invention, therefore, contemplates blanking out a back section anda front section of fibreboard, forming and assembling them, togetherwith a series of interlocking struts and end panels such as to securethe formed up blanks into a strong, rigid bolster structure.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the formed up bolster.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the back section of the fibreboard blank.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the front section of the fibreboard blank.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the fibreboard struts.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an end portion of the bolsterassembled with the end panel and flap in open position to show theinterior structure.

In the drawings there is shown a bolster of fibreboard or like materialhaving an inclined front panel 10, end panel 11 and mating top panels 12and 13. Said bolster is formed from fibreboard blanks including that ofa back section 14, as shown in Fig. 2, a front section 15, as shown inFig. 3, and a series of blanked out struts 16, as shown in Fig. 4.

The back section includes an elongated rectangular back panel 17terminating at its upper edge in a back section top panel 12 folded fromthe back panel with a fold line 19 and in turn terminating in a backsection top web 20 folded therefrom along the fold line 21. Said top webis formed with a series of spaced slots 22 forming cars 23 each of alength approximately one-half of the width of the web. At the bottom ofthe back panel there is folded therefrom along the fold line 24 a backsection bottom panel 25 from which in turn is folded a back sectionbottom web 26 similarly slotted at 27 to provide ears 28, said slots andears being in alignment with the slots and ears 22, 23, respectively.Folded from the ends of the back panel 17 along the line 29 there areend locking flaps 30 provided with locking slots 31 adjacent the fold.

The front section 15, as shown in Fig. 3, includes a bottom panel 32from which is folded along the fold line 33 the upwardly and rearwardlysloping front panel 10. The bottom panel 32 terminates in a frontsection bottom web 34 folded therefrom along the fold line 35 in whichis provided a series of spaced slots 36 for providing the cars 37. Thefront panel terminates at its top in the front section'top panel 13which is folded therefrom along the foldlin'e 38. Saidpanel is' in turnfolded along the line 39providing a downwardly extending front sectiontop web 40; Said web'is provided with a series of spaced'slots4'1providi'ng ears 42 extending in alignment with the slots 36 and ears37, respectively. Extending from opposite endso'f the front'panel 10 andfolded therefrom along the fold line 43are'the'end panels 11, each endpanel having a' lockingt'o'ngued l adapted" to extend into the slot 31of theend 1ocking'flaps3'0 upon assembly.

As shown in Fig. 4 there is a series of struts 16 of a shapecorresponding to the cross section of the bolster. Each strut is formedwith a sloping front edge 45 corresponding to the sloping front panel10. The upper edge of each strut is provided with a slot 46 and thebottom edge thereof with a slot 47.

In assembling and erecting the bolster from said sections and struts,each section is folded in the manner illustrated in Fig. 5 with the webs20 and 40 extending downwardly in abutting relation and the webs 26 and34 extending upwardly in abutting relation, the ears and slots of allfour webs extending in alignment with each other. However, before thepanels 12 and 13 with their webs 20 and 40, respectively, are foldedover, the struts 16 are mounted in place with the slots 47 embracing theslot portion of the webs 26 and 34 and the slots 27 and 36 of the webs26, 34 embracing the respective struts. Thus, said struts embrace andgrip the abutting webs of the two sections, holding them together, whilethe webs in turn interlock with and support the struts in upright spacedrelation. The top panels 12 and 13 are then bent over with their webs20, 40 inserted in the slots 46 of the mounting struts, the upperportion of the struts embracing in turn said webs, whereby the webs andtop panels will be locked in place and the upper portions of the strutsinterlocked therewith. The end locking flaps 30 are then folded into endclosing position with the end panels 11 folded thereover and interlockedtherewith in closed position through interengagement of the lockingtongues 44 and slots 31.

With the portions of the blanked out fibreboard sections thus folded andrelated with the struts, and interlocked in place, the bolster iserected into a strong, rigid but light unit. Through the reverseprocedure, the bolster may be knocked down into its component parts whendesired for storage or shipment.

The invention claimed is:

l. A collapsible bolster of fibreboard adapted to b assembled from apro-cut blank comprising a front section and a back section, said frontsection including a bottom panel, a front panel folded upwardlytherefrom at a rearwardly inclined angle thereto and terminating in atop panel extending in parallel relation to said bottom panel, anupwardly extending bottom web folded from said bottom panel, adownwardly extending top web folded from said top panel to extend towardand in alignment with said bottom web, and end panels folded from saidfront panel at an angle thereto and terminating in looking tongues, saidback section including a back panel coextensive with said front panelterminating in a top panel folded therefrom to extend flush with saidfront section top panel and a bottom panel folded therefrom to extendflush with said front section bottom panel, an upwardly extending bottomweb folded from said back section bottom panel to abut the bottom web ofsaid front section, a downwardly extending front Web folded from the toppanel of said back section to abut the top web of said front section, anend locking flap folded from each end of said back panel to underliecorresponding end panels and provided with locking tongue receivingslots for locking said sections together, said respective webs having aseries of spaced slots and ears extending in parallel alignment witheach other, and a plurality of fibreboard struts formed to engage andsupport said panels internally and having' slots therein interengagingwith the slots of said webs whereby said struts and Webs will beinterlocked in bolster erected position.

2. A collapsible bolster of fibreboard comprising a precut fibreboardblank, said blank being cut and folded to form bottom, top and backpanels and an inwardly and rearwardly sloping front panel, a pair ofspaced and aligned internal webs folded inwardly toward each other froma pair of oppositely positioned panels, each web being provided with aseries of spaced slots extending in alignment with corresponding slotsof the other panel, a series of spaced fibreboard struts cut to conformwith and abut the inner surfaces of said panels, said struts extendingtransversely of said panels within said slots and having coacting slotstherein to embrace said panels whereby said panels and struts will beheld in interlocking relation through said webs, and end loeking panelsfolded toward each other from said back and front panels in slot andtongue interlocking relation for providing end closures securing saidformed up blanks in bolster erected relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,143,593 Degginger June 15, 1915 2,087,773 Levine July 20, 19372,141,399 Luhn Dec. 27, 1938 2,646,578 Evans July 28, 1953

